What Teachers Need to Know About Dyspraxia and Apraxia of Speech

Lucas has always been a clumsy kid, bumping into walls and knocking things down. His parents worried when he didn’t start speaking until he was more than three years old, and even now, in first grade, he mixes up sounds in words, saying “hopsital” instead of “hospital.” His teacher is concerned because Lucas can’t seem to hold his pencil correctly and learning to write is a serious struggle. He won’t play catch on the playground, and other kids make fun of his slightly slurred and slow speech. Lucas’s parents take him to visit a neurologist, who finds nothing physically wrong. He suggests Lucas might have actually have dyspraxia.